Priset of UGCC Summoned to Session of Special Commitee for Refusal to Bury Man Because of Debts to Church

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church reacted to a report of TSN about a priest who refused to bury a man because of his debts to the church. RISU learned from representatives of the Stryi Eparchy of UGCC that the priest of the village of Sernyky, Fr. Stepan Palii, was summoned to the Eparchial Department today.

“In a few minutes, a special committee at its session will consider the facts covered by the TV report. We invited Fr. Stepan to the session to hear his position as well,” said the Chancellor of the Stryi Eparchy, Fr. Volodymyr Zhdan.

According to him, the incident in the eparchy is not typical. If the fact of exaction of money for the funeral is confirmed, a church penalty will be imposed on the priest. However, the committee is first to hear the arguments of Fr. Stepan. Fr. Voldymyr also promised to inform RISU about the results of the session of the committee.

According to the TV report, the head of the Demchuk family died two days ago and the local priest refused to bury him. “He called our daughter to another room and told her that he would not bury her father if she does not pay UAH 2,100. She said she did not have the money at the moment because her father was sick and her mother had been sick for a long time and all the money was spent on medicine,” said the widow, Olena Demchuk.

According to the report, the mentioned debt to the church appeared two years ago when the villagers began to chip in a UAH hundred annually from each house allegedly for repair work in the church. The dead man was buried free of charge by a priest from a neighboring town. According to the villagers, money has become the priority for the local priest and one cannot get married or christen a baby without it.